Steering Wheel shimmy after tire rotation

Jeep4me99 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:26 pm

I rotated my tires last week during my oil change, and now the steering wheel shimmies back and forth like the alignment if off. The jeep rode like crap and i could feel the vibration from the tires on the highway at about 65mph. The shimmy seems to increase during breaking as well.
I'm running MTR's, last time I rotated them I just went front to back, this time I went front to back and cris crossed.

any thoughts?

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:53 pm

Return the tires to their original positions and go get them balanced.

Returning the tires to their original postion will eliminate the shimmy you now notice. Getting the tires ballanced will eliminate the vibration you noticed before the rotation. You should then be able to rotate your tires after the balance

elephantrider · **Posted:** Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:36 pm

need your tires rebalanced.

sometimes when you rotate, you need to get them rebalanced.

Jeep4me99 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:18 pm

poop! the two tires that are now on the front were just put on and balances 6k ago....guess I'll just have it done again before too much extra wear occurs

valvestem · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 222

If the shimmy is there on braking, it sounds like maybe the rotors got warped from unevenly and/or overtightening the wheel nuts. Was a torque tool used on remounting the wheel?

JeepBeat · **Posted:** Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:52 pm

Have them rebalanced. I just ran into the same issue, and put up a topic yesterday about having my snow tires put on. They were already on wheels, and had been balanced before. The boys here suggested balancing them again, which I did. I would rather spend the $40 now and make sure they are balanced, rather than leave and have trouble or improper wear. I would rebalance your tires, or like they say, put them back where they were before, but then you're defeating the purpose of making sure you get even wear by rotation. Good luck.

jerbacher · **Posted:** Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:52 pm

valvestem wrote:

If the shimmy is there on braking, it sounds like maybe the rotors got warped from unevenly and/or overtightening the wheel nuts. Was a torque tool used on remounting the wheel?

not necessarily. i dont know why, but i had some shimmy in the wheel on braking and i was mad cause i had just recently changed the rotors. i got new wheels/tires and it went away... so, i have to blame it on balance?

phxtoad · **Posted:** Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:20 pm

Get used to it. I've gone through two sets of MTR's and they all wear unevenly, and get out of balance really quickly. Got to love them though!

Not saying you didn't - but did you check the torque on the lugnets? Did the wheels seat themselves flush when you tightened them up?

Also, if you have a warped rotor you'll feel it on the brakes, too.

Lastly, worn ball joints could also cause some vibes...

Todd

Guest · **Posted:** Wed Nov 21, 2007 9:00 pm

could be a bent wheel, too. on my current right front wheel I've got a pretty nasty barrel bend. around 65-70 it gets pretty rank. I need to swap my spare's rim out for that wheel...BIG ol' wobble :lol:

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

Have you tried getting them balanced with the tiny beads. I just had my new Silent Armors balanced that way. No weights on the rims. Just an ounce or two of tiny beads that use centrifigal force to keep the tires balanced at all times. I was skeptical about it when the tire store told me about it, but it seems to really work. I've talked to some people with big MT tires who've said it was the only way they ever got them to balance well. Never supposed to have to get them balanced again either.

Jeep4me99 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:25 pm

I think part of it is from the rotors, since the breaks have been making some noise.
I didn't torque the lugnuts when I tightened eerything up, but after I noticed the shimmy, I did loosend all the wheels, then retighten them to make sure the wheel is seated properly. Prolly a balancing issue, and I really need to get Al's A-arms to get the alignment fully in spec.

Deranged War Tomato · **Joined:** Thu Sep 08, 2005 4:33 am **Posts:** 13

Had my tiers rotated once. After rotations I had a BAD pull to the right, steering wheel shakes after about 60mpr, and shakes when braking. Took to KJ into the shop. After the right combonation of moving the tiers around they fixed all the shakes and got rid of 99.99% of the right pull. Strange. I run the BFGoodrick AT KO's. Bad thing though. Just had my 30,000 mile check-up. forgot to tell them NOT to rotate the tiers :oops:

and now all the shakes and the Bad pull to the right IS BACK! :roll:

Oh Well

P.S. I remember when I first joined this form there was alot of talk of people having problems with a bad pull to the right. Did someone find out the problem? People with all diferent wheel, tier combos where having this proble. I have not seen any posting about this in a long time.

Pote · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:13 pm

I would not be satisfied with ANY shake, shimmy or pull with any tire rotation or balance...I would hold the service people 100% responsible for making it right. In this day and age, it should drive smooth without any problems...if those things occur it needs balancing and/or alignment...if that not fixing it, you have other mechanical problems but should still be diagnosed by the tire people...don't settle or say oh well, its not right and needs to be addressed... something is wrong. Its not a case of "i guess I'll live with it". With good tires, good balancing and proper rotation/alignment, you should have zero shake and shimmy. zero pull to either side... make them do it over and over on their dime until its gone...its unacceptable to get rotations and balancing to only leave and have your rig all over the place.

Jeep4me99 · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:22 pm

Pote wrote:

I would not be satisfied with ANY shake, shimmy or pull with any tire rotation or balance...I would hold the service people 100% responsible for making it right. In this day and age, it should drive smooth without any problems...if those things occur it needs balancing and/or alignment...if that not fixing it, you have other mechanical problems but should still be diagnosed by the tire people...don't settle or say oh well, its not right and needs to be addressed... something is wrong. Its not a case of "i guess I'll live with it". With good tires, good balancing and proper rotation/alignment, you should have zero shake and shimmy. zero pull to either side... make them do it over and over on their dime until its gone...its unacceptable to get rotations and balancing to only leave and have your rig all over the place.

You're darn right...I'm not gonna take it!!!! I'm gonna write myself a nasty letter right now and demand that I fix it or I'll have some serious poop to deal with!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha, I did the rotation myself....but I totally agree with you, so if I did have it done somewhere, they would definately be doing the job over again.

Pote · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:31 pm

Jeep4me99 wrote:

Pote wrote:

I would not be satisfied with ANY shake, shimmy or pull with any tire rotation or balance...I would hold the service people 100% responsible for making it right. In this day and age, it should drive smooth without any problems...if those things occur it needs balancing and/or alignment...if that not fixing it, you have other mechanical problems but should still be diagnosed by the tire people...don't settle or say oh well, its not right and needs to be addressed... something is wrong. Its not a case of "i guess I'll live with it". With good tires, good balancing and proper rotation/alignment, you should have zero shake and shimmy. zero pull to either side... make them do it over and over on their dime until its gone...its unacceptable to get rotations and balancing to only leave and have your rig all over the place.

You're darn right...I'm not gonna take it!!!! I'm gonna right myself a nasty letter right now and demand that I fix it or I'll have some serious poop to deal with!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha, I did the rotation myself....but I totally agree with you, so if I did have it done somewhere, they would definately be doing the job over again.

LOL.... "Dear Me, I am bringing my car in to have me fix what I messed up...either fix it right or I will be forced to see myself in small claims court!! How on earth I can let my car leave my garage in this state is beyond me. sincerely, Me!"

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2007 2:58 pm

Its just the MTRs I would say esp. since you did not cross them , they have set up a wear pattern now, cross them a nd run them about 3/4000 rotate the right way again , MTRs need rotated or any mud type tire on a regular basis and also do the rotate the right way or you will have problems, balancing will not help a tire that has a wear pattern that much

Steering Wheel shimmy after tire rotation

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